White Rock resident McKeely Borger will be one of the company members dancing in Coastal City Ballet’s new full-length ballet A Midsummer Night’s Dream, premiering this Sunday at ACT Maple Ridge, and Tuesday at North Vancouver’s Centennial Theatre.
This is the 19-year-old Saskatchewan native’s first season with the pre-professional ballet company, established in 2011 under the artistic direction of Li Yaming.
Set to Felix Mendelssohn’s celebrated music, A Midsummer Night’s Dream has been specially choreographed for the company by Irene Schneider, former artistic director of Germany’s Magdeburg Ballet, who created last year’s successful Hansel and Gretel, and features students from throughout the Lower Mainland.
A dancer for 15 years, Borger has trained in jazz and tap with the Canadian Dance Teacher’s Association, earning an advanced diploma in both.
She also received a Royal Academy of Dance advanced certificate with honours.
The young dancer spent the last year and a half in New York on a full scholarship to Adelphi University, where she studied with Frank Augustyn.
More recently, she had the opportunity to travel to South Carolina with her ballet teacher, Monica Ventura, where she competed in the Youth America Grand Prix, placing among the top 12 dancers.
For information on A Midsummer Night’s Dream or to reserve tickets for the Maple Ridge performance, visit www.theactmapleridge.org or call 604-476-2787, or, for the North Vancouver performance, visit www,centennialtheatre.com or call 604-984-4484.